Global central bankers face an array of political and economic challenges as they gather for an annual conference today.
The three-day symposium at Jackson Hole, in the US state of Wyoming, comes with American rate-setters facing pressure from the White House to cut interest rates — US President Donald Trump has mulled firing the Federal Reserve chief and yesterday called for another policymaker to quit — while inflation paths are diverging across rich-world economies, the quality of economic data is worsening, and whipsawing government policies are having unpredictable effects on prices.
For the Fed, at least, the meetings may offer respite: Bloomberg reported that visiting central bankers planned to defend the Fed’s chair and speak out in favor of independent monetary policy.